Behind the Craft · Sunday, September 6, 2026
Sue expresses concern over the perceived decline in academic rigor, citing data on AP exams. She notes that AP exams, which once tested undergraduate and graduate-level material, have gradually lowered their standards to assess high school and now even middle school level reading passages. This trend suggests a broader issue of educational institutions 'giving up' on maintaining high academic expectations.
“I was reading this data that came out recently about the AP exam. And how it's an AP.”
“So it used to test undergraduate and graduate level material. And then it slowly drifted down to, okay, we're testing high school level reading passages. And now we're apparently in the last two years, we're testing middle school level passages.”
“And it's like we've just given up.”